BILL NUMBER: AB 2735	CHAPTERED  09/27/00

	CHAPTER   780
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE   SEPTEMBER 27, 2000
	APPROVED BY GOVERNOR   SEPTEMBER 27, 2000
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY   AUGUST 24, 2000
	PASSED THE SENATE   AUGUST 22, 2000
	AMENDED IN SENATE   AUGUST 7, 2000
	AMENDED IN SENATE   JULY 6, 2000
	AMENDED IN SENATE   JUNE 21, 2000
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY   APRIL 3, 2000

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Cox

                        FEBRUARY 25, 2000

   An act to amend Sections 100430 and 103700 of, and to add Article
8 (commencing with Section 103446) to Chapter 11 of Part 1 of
Division 102 of, the Health and Safety Code, relating to vital
statistics.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 2735, Cox.  Birth certificates.
   Under existing law, the State Registrar is required to amend or
revise a birth certificate under certain circumstances.
   This bill would permit an individual, or the parent, legal
guardian, or conservator, of a minor or incompetent person, to apply
to the State Registrar for the establishment and issuance of a new
birth certificate and the sealing of the original, upon finding that
the birthing hospital or local registrar made a gender error when
completing the original birth certificate, or upon the filing of
sworn affidavits by the attending physician and the mother or father
or a relative who was at least 5 years old at the time of the
applicant's birth that the applicant's gender was different from that
indicated on the original birth certificate.  This bill would
require the applicant to pay to the State Registrar a $19 fee for the
establishment of a new record of birth under these circumstances.
The bill would authorize the fee amount to be adjusted annually, in
accordance with specified provisions.
   This bill would specify the duties of the State Registrar, as well
as local registrars and county recorders in this regard.  By
imposing new duties on local registrars and county recorders, the
bill would create a state-mandated local program.
  The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state.  Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement, including the creation of a State Mandates Claims Fund
to pay the costs of mandates that do not exceed $1,000,000 statewide
and other procedures for claims whose statewide costs exceed
$1,000,000.
   This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates
determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state,
reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these
statutory provisions.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:


  SECTION 1.  Section 100430 of the Health and Safety Code is amended
to read:
   100430.  (a) The fees or charges for a record search or for the
issuance of any license, permit, registration, or any other document
pursuant to Sections 26832, 26840, and 26859 of the Government Code,
or Sections 102525, 102625, 102670, 102725, 102750, 103050, 103065,
103225, 103325, 103400, 103425, 103450, 103525, 103590, 103595,
103625, 103650, 103675, 103690, 103695, 103700, 103705, 103710,
103715, 103720, 103725, 103730, and 103735 of this code, may be
adjusted annually by the percentage change determined pursuant to
Section 100425.
   The base amount to be adjusted shall be the statutory base amount
of the fee or charge plus the sum of the prior adjustments to the
statutory base amount.  Whenever the statutory base amount is
amended, the base amount shall be the new statutory base amount plus
the sum of adjustments to the new statutory base amount calculated
subsequent to the statutory base amendment.  The actual dollar fee or
charge shall be rounded to the next highest whole dollar.
   (b) Beginning January 1, 1983, the department shall annually
publish a list of the actual numerical fee charges as adjusted
pursuant to this section.  This adjustment of fees and the
publication of the fee list shall not be subject to the requirements
of Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division
3 of Title 2 of the Government Code.
  SEC. 2.  Article 8 (commencing with Section 103446) is added to
Chapter 11 of Part 1 of Division 102 of the Health and Safety Code,
to read:
      Article 8.  Revision of Birth Records to Correct Gender Errors
Made by Birthing Hospitals or Local Registrars

   103446.  It is the intent of the Legislature that this article
provide a remedy for the correction of birth certificates that
contain gender errors made by the birthing hospital or local
registrar when completing the original birth certificate.
   103447.  (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter,
any person born in this state, or, in the case of a minor or
incompetent person, his or her parent, legal guardian, or
conservator, may apply to the State Registrar for the establishment
and issuance of a new birth certificate and the sealing of the
original, upon finding that the birthing hospital or local registrar
made a gender error when completing the original birth certificate.
   (b) The application shall be accompanied by one of the following:

   (1) The sworn affidavit of the administrator of the hospital where
the applicant was born or by a representative designated by the
administrator, verifying that the incorrect gender information
entered on the birth certificate was due to a hospital error.
   (2) The sworn affidavit of the representative of the local
registrar, verifying that the incorrect gender information entered on
the birth certificate was due to an administrative error of the
local registrar.
   (3) The sworn affidavit of the physician attending the birth of
the applicant and the sworn affidavit of the applicant's mother or
father or a relative who was at least five years old at the time of
the applicant's birth, verifying that, at the time of birth, the
applicant's gender was different from that indicated on the original
birth certificate.
   103447.5.  Upon receipt of the application and sworn affidavit or
affidavits, and upon payment of the fee required by Section 103700,
the State Registrar shall establish a new birth certificate for the
person.
   103448.  The new birth certificate established pursuant to this
article shall in no way indicate that it is not the original birth
certificate of the applicant.  The new birth certificate shall
supplant any birth certificate previously registered for the
applicant, and shall be the only birth certificate open to public
inspection.
   103448.5.  The State Registrar shall transmit a certified copy of
a birth certificate established pursuant to this article to the
applicant, without additional charge.
   103449.  (a) When a new birth certificate is established pursuant
to this article, the State Registrar shall so inform the local
registrar and the county recorder whose records contain copies of the
original certificate, who shall forward those copies to the State
Registrar for filing with the original certificate, if he or she
determines that it is practical for him or her to do so.
   (b) If the local registrar or county recorder determines that it
would be impractical to forward the copies of the original
certificate to the State Registrar, he or she shall cover and seal
the copies in a manner that does not deface or destroy them, and
shall forward a verified statement of this action to the State
Registrar.
  SEC. 3.  Section 103700 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to
read:
   103700.  A fee of eleven dollars ($11) shall be paid to the State
Registrar by the applicant for an amendment or revision to a birth,
death, or marriage record under provisions of Articles 1 (commencing
with Section 103225), 4 (commencing with Section 103325), 5
(commencing with Section 103350) and 8 (commencing with Section
103446) of Chapter 11, except for those amendments that are filed
within one year of the date of occurrence of the event.
  SEC. 4.  Notwithstanding Section 17610 of the Government Code, if
the Commission on State Mandates determines that this act contains
costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local agencies and
school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant to Part 7
(commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the
Government Code.  If the statewide cost of the claim for
reimbursement does not exceed one million dollars ($1,000,000),
reimbursement shall be made from the State Mandates Claims Fund.

